Ja Rule was on Last Call with Carson Daly on Wednesday where he promoted his new album and new movie before performing ‘Thug Lovin” again without Bobby Brown. Ja had good things to say about the success of Eminem in ‘8 Mile’, saying it opens a big door for hip hop stars and is helping him secure more movie roles and interest in his own scripts. As for rival DMX, he was sounding pretty smug. “I think he’s really pissed at me,” he said. “You know, I’m havin’ a good time right now, man. I’m, you know, doin’ movies, you know, making records. I’m having a good time. I mean, you know, I think it’s a thing where he — he’s cold right now. You know what I mean? And I’m hot. And he’s seeking for ways to get hot. He’s scrambled. You know what I mean? He’s like a wild pit bull right now. Like — he doesn’t know how to get hot right now. And he’s — really, he’s barking up the wrong tree. I’m not the dude for that. You know what I’m sayin’?” Read on for a complete transcript. Carson: Welcome back. My next guest has one of the most distinctive voices in music. He’s sold millions of records, and now he’s making quite a name for himself in movies. Please welcome Ja Rule.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Carson: It’s murder!

[ Cheers and applause ] What up?

Ja Rule: What’s up, carson? How you been, man?

Carson: Good to have you back on the show, man. Thank you.

Ja Rule: I’m glad to be here.

Carson: How are you?

Ja Rule: I’m good, man, good.

Carson: Yeah, I was checking you out on the cover. I don’t know if you all saw it. On “the new york times,” you were talking about the business of rap. And you mentioned your love for expensive jewelry.

[ Ja Rule laughs ] How much — like, you right now, how much are you wearing? What’s all that worth, may I ask?

Ja Rule: Oh.

[ Light laughter ] Probably about a quarter. Maybe a little less.

Carson: $225,000 on your body right now?

Ja Rule: Yeah, about something like that.

[ Random cheers ]

Carson: What’s the most expensive piece you’ve bought at one time?

Ja Rule: Um — I don’t know, man. I don’t know.

[ Light laughter ] It probably was something for my wife, man. She — she goes harder than me, man.

[ Audience aws ]

Carson: That is crazy. Do you ever — do you get nervous at all, walking around with all of that, or —

Ja Rule: I don’t — you know, I mean, I got different sets. I wear this sometimes. You know, and sometimes I wear my gold set. And my red gold set.

Carson: Right.

Ja Rule: And whatever.

Carson: We were talking — about this time last year, I think, you were still filming “half past dead.”

Ja Rule: Yeah, I was out in germany around this time last year. Trying to get home for thanksgiving.

Carson: Which is nuts. Tell us first about the film. I know it has something to do with guys breaking into jail, which doesn’t make any sense.

Ja Rule: Yeah. It’s actually kinda crazy. There’s a guy on the inside that robbed the money train for $200 million of U.S. Gold. And he’s about to get the death penalty. So he’s kinda gonna take his secret with him to the grave, where he hid all the money.

Carson: Mm-hmm.

Ja Rule: And so, like, crooked federal agents have been coming around, you know, offering him amnesty and, you know, all types of deals.

Carson: Is that nick? Is that your character?

Ja Rule: No. I play one of the characters that’s already in prison, that, you know, try to fenagle him to get some of that money myself.

Ja Rule: Carn: Right.

Ja Rule: Yeah, so it’s kinda hot. It’s kinda hot.

Carson: And steven seagal is in it.

Ja Rule: Steven seagal is in it. You know, he’s my — he plays my best friend in the movie.

Ja Rule: They could have, but I think — I think it’s, you know, money issues. It’s cheaper to shoot way over there than it is here.

Carson: They could’ve gone to, like, montreal or something. Everybody’s up in canada.

Ja Rule: I think they wanted that cold, wet feeling of alcatraz.

Carson: Right.

Ja Rule: And wanted to get one of them old, like, kind of jails.

Carson: Right.

Ja Rule: So berlin was a perfect pick.

Carson: Remember — we did the mtv show for the troops.

Ja Rule: Yeah.

Carson: Remember how gray it was?

Ja Rule: Exactly.

Carson: I mean, it is cold, gray.

Ja Rule: And that’s how the jail was, cold and dark and gray. So —

[ Light laughter ]

Carson: Nothing worse than a jail in germany.

Ja Rule: Exactly, exactly.

Carson: How hard was that for you to be disciplined on the set of a film coming from the music, where you’re used to sort of jumping and boppin’ around town and staying relevant to the music? I mean, you were way over there.

Ja Rule: You know, I had a lot of fun out there. They gave me a lot of room to do a lot of things that I wanted to do, you know. They let me get to go home a lot more than I was supposed to. You know what I’m sayin’? I ain’t tellin’ on you, clint. But, you know, they let me go home. And you’re not supposed to go — leave the set. When you’re there, you’re there, and that’s that. But —

Carson: People don’t realize — when you’re making a movie, you could be there six months. And you can’t ski. You can’t hurt yourself. You can’t go home.

Ja Rule: You can’t do nothin’. You gotta ay there and just do the movie. But they gave me a little —

Carson: You’d just jet in.

Ja Rule: Yeah, I was jetting in. I was going to boxing matches.

Carson: You were going to boxing — “I’m going to vegas. That’s a wrap!”

Ja Rule: Yeah, I was going to vegas to fights and stuff. I was sneaking out, man. I wasn’t telling them sometimes.

Carson: Right. How do you feel — do you like watching yourself on the big screen?

Ja Rule: Great for hip-hop. It’s good for movies. It’s good — I think it wakes up hollywood, you know?

Carson: Yeah.

Ja Rule: You know, they’re a little hesitant to do certain things. And, you know, em just went and took it —

Carson: Opened up a lot of doors for probably a lot of people.

Ja Rule: Yeah, yeah. They’re gonna — they’re gonna — you know, I wrote two scripts myself, you know. And I been, you know, lettin’ ’em in on it. And they’re so excited on the scripts. But they’re a little scared to push the button. You know what I mean? So now that they see the $54 million, the button’s gettin’ pushed like this.

[ Laughter ]

Carson: Right.

Ja Rule: “Yo, you got some scripts, ja?”

[ Laughter ] So it’s cool.

Carson: I wanna mention “the last temptation.” And quickly, people are always talking about your beef with DMX. So give me a little bit on it, on where it not really stems from, but are you really pissed atim?

Mn, I think he’s really pissed ame. You know, I’m havin’ a good time right now, man. I’m, you know, doin’ movies, you know, making records. I’m having a good time. I mean, you know, I think it’s a thing where he — he’s cold right now. You know what I mean? And I’m hot.

[ Light laughter ] And he’s seeking for ways to get hot. He’s scrambled. You know what I mean? He’s like a wild pit bull right now. Like — he doesn’t know how to get hot right now. And he’s — really, he’s barking up the wrong tree. I’m not the dude for that. You know what I’m sayin’?